Been scrimping since March to put away enough for a new upgrade. Can't even remember what coffee tastes like. Ready to get an I7 2600 and 8gb to replace my valiant little Q6600 on the weekend. Looking forward to some brisk action after that.

"Nineteen years of age, eight years public education, three years military service. Intelligent, normally observant and answered all questions freely.
He was arrogant and proud to be a pilot. Fellow prisoners in hospital consider him mentally unstable."

I'm toying with doubling my RAM up to 8Gb and - long-term - putting one of those quad-core thingies under the bonnet, but I've got RoF running nicely at the moment. I squeezed a few more FPS out of it with an app called 3DOverider - it forces triple buffering if you use v-synch with Direct X. Lowered grass to medium, and it rarely drops below 20 FPS, - that'll do me for now.

Be careful not to fall into the "I wonder what that old game runs like on my new rig..." trap. I got very distracted by insatalling oldies on mine. Assassin's Creed is very pretty but so-o-o-o-o repetative. I even had a brief flirtation with FSX - looks nice, but a lot of aircraft downloads don't like Win 7. Modded Call of Duties were good for a few quick jollies. Of course, I was very taken with Il2/FB's improved frame rates...but it all seems so easy after RoF. I mean, I can get by in FB without ever using rudder. Part of me wonders what's going to come along in a few years to make me think RoF is a bit past it.

Anyhow, that's some interesting info' on the N17 re-jig. Looking forward to taking her up. One more sleep to go, with a bit of luck.

Still banging away at the 'hard' ones. I got half-way to my objective today:-

Right-o chaps! Before switching anything on, check wind direction. A quick glance at the windsock reveals a decent north easterly - which means turning the ol' kite around until she's facing into it...

Start the engine up and press the ol' blip switch sharp-ish, apply right rudder and swing the old girl around into the breeze, release the blip switch and off she goes...

Keep her straight as she trundles off and as she builds up speed, apply very gentle forward pressue on the stick. Gentle being the key word here, don't want to nose her in...

And we're airborne! Very gentle (those two words again!) backwards pressure on the stick, slight rudder inputs to maintain a straight course, keep it steady, don't pull too much on that stick...

Wa-hey! Can't see what all the fuss was about - will soon be downing Fritzies now I've got the hang of this. Now then, get me bearings from a landmark or two, and begin a gentle bank to port as I embark on a leisurely figure of eight or two over the aerodrome, before allowing plenty of distance to come in for a landing and pick up my wings from the C.O...

...oh, bugger!

Well, they'll never find the old girl down there, let alone salvage her. Still, the M.O says I'll be up and about soon and has passed on the C.O's thoughts about me applying for the infantry. Seems the Old Man was mortified by such a bad show so near to the locals, so he started a rumour about how one of his finest, bravest pilots realised there was something wrong with his kite and deliberately put her in the river to save the village. He hates standing next to my sick bay bed and having to smile for the cameras as the locals troop in with flowers, booze and kisses for me.

"Never mind Sir," says I - "I'll soon be keeping my head down in the trenches and you'll be shot of me..."

"Fat chance of that!" says he - "I've got a real live bloody hero on the books here! How's it going to look if you're packed off to the bloody infantry? As a matter of fact," he continues, clearing a frog from his throat, the nervous tick on his face becoming ever-more pronounced, "Whitehall got to hear of your selfless act and have sent you a bloody medal."

"That's nice. Are you sure you don't fancy a bottle of this wine, Skipper? More than enough for me here..."

The Old Man left hurriedly, making a noise I can only describe as like a chicken being strangled. I suppose the emotion of the moment got to him. Responsibilities of command, stiff upper lip and all that...

Apparently a very stable ride. Just so-o-o-o-o slow, and a pig to turn (turning, of course would be a useful attribute for a combat aircraft). There are stories of Harry Tates running out of fuel and gliding in perfectly to land, dead crew and all. I'm sure it will become the target drone of choice for many a Fokker jockey.

I dug out my copy of Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War One yesterday, yet to see it mentioned as reference in the more, er, passionate debates on RoF forums. Has it been discredited, or am I sat on a useful rarity? Some fabulous old deathtraps of all nations in there, although of course at the time of original printing, some of them would have been the very forefont of technology.

Oh well, work beckons - looks like I'll get another sleep in before playtime after all.

Jason has just posted that the patch release has been postponed 'till Monday - minor last-minute tweaks needed, apparently. I'll have to content myself meanwhile with trying to actually finish a DiRT 3 rally stage without breaking something. I'm obviously a bit rusty at driving, having almost demolished a Norwegian church, rammed some poor Kenyan's hut at about 60 mph, and collided with every tree in Finland.

Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence. William Blake

DiRT, eh? Despite more rallying with the latest offering, still too 'dudey' for my liking. If I wanted to see cars with energy drink logo's on 'em doughnuting around lamp posts, I could stroll down to my local Lidl car park after dark. Prefer WRC - even with its' graphics and poor co-driver voice-overs.

Lights are scheduled to go out at RoF central from 10-1400 hours GMT. It's almost here!

"Nineteen years of age, eight years public education, three years military service. Intelligent, normally observant and answered all questions freely.
He was arrogant and proud to be a pilot. Fellow prisoners in hospital consider him mentally unstable."